How To Instill the Habit of Reading in Your Child

"One of the greatest gifts adults can give to their offspring and to their society is to read to children."

-          Carl Sagan.

Books are a man's best friends. Reading helps expand horizons and assists in overall child development. However, considering the amount of entertainment options we have these days- TV, cartoons, cds/dvds and video games, it becomes difficult for parents to get children to pick up the habit of reading. Here are a few useful parenting tips which will help you introduce your children to the world of books:

Surround children with books

The best way to get your children into the habit of reading is by making books and magazines easily visible and accessible in your home. As your child grows up among books and sees his/her parents as book lovers and avid readers, he will be curious and interested to check them out.

One great way of doing this is to populate the home with books kept in clear sight. Keep magazines on the stack, put a children's book or two on the study table, put a few colorful and easily readable books among the toys, some in the car and  few in the bed room. Dedicate a corner of the house to books and build your library there.

When your child is surrounded by so many books and reading material, she will naturally feel inclined toward picking up the books and flipping through them. Especially pre-learners and kids love listening to stories. A few good books in their hands can get them interested to know more about them. And teach children to handle books with care.

Get colorful

Children love colors. Dull books with no pictures don't appeal to them. So get them books which contain lots of colorful images that will help children to develop their curiosity and interest in reading. 

Thanks to technology, books have undergone a huge transformation with a large variety of books now being made available. From audio books to books that allow you to record in your voice – the options are many. The idea is to surround children with books that evoke their interest.

Bedtime stories

No matter how busy your schedule has been, a great way of parenting children is to make it a habit to read stories to your children at bedtime. Most children love story telling sessions and look forward to bedtime stories. If you have two children, ask the elder one to narrate a story to the younger sibling.

Read yourself

Good parenting requires parents to be role models to their children. Children sub-consciously pick up a lot of habits from their parents. If you have the habit of reading books, your child is likely to grow up to be a book-lover. If you watch less TV and spend more time reading, your child may pick up the same habits.

Let children choose their books

Get your child acquainted with books from an early age. Right from the time she is around 3 years old and has begun to understand the magic of the printed word, take your child to the nearest library or bookstore regularly and let her select the books.

Help your child find the right kind of books, flip through the pages together, explain to him what the book is about and whether it is of interest or not. You will find the experience turning out to be one of joyful discovery for the two of you. As your child sifts through books, turning the pages excitedly and even demanding to buy everything that catches his fancy, you will find that this early fascination will slowly grow into a healthy habit.

Watch videos that inspire children

One of the sure ways to make children pick the habit of reading is by watching a good motivational video. Select inspirational videos which contain beautiful images with profound messages which are likely to have much more impact than mother poems. Or subscribe to a website which delivers inspirational videos especially made for children as they serve as a great launching pad to start a wonderful conversation with your child. You can watch these motivational videos daily with your child and read the inspirational message to him/her aloud. The golden nuggets of wisdom that inspirational quotes deliver will make your child want to know more and read about them.

Moreover these inspirational quotes offer practical guidance on parenting children and helpful parenting tips. In terms of parenting help, reading motivational children quotes are a great way of inspiring your child.